


Wherever He May Sail

by Kittyluvr42



Category: Undertale
Genre: Autistic Asriel (Undertale), Autistic Asriel Dreemurr, Autistic Chara (Undertale), Autistic Chara Dreemurr, Canon Non-Binary Character, Canon Nonbinary Character, Childhood, Fluff, Gen, Nice Chara (Undertale), Nonbinary Chara (Undertale), Pre-Canon, Sibling Bonding, Soft Chara (Undertale), Song Lyrics, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-01-27 14:03:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21393391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittyluvr42/pseuds/Kittyluvr42
Summary: Asriel gets to see the stars for the first time. (This was originally one thing, but the main body worked better on itself, but I didn't want to get rid of the characterization around it, so I split it into 2. I intend to write an epilogue to wrap up some of the stuff I set up in the prologue and didn't get to.)
Relationships: Chara & Asriel Dreemurr
Kudos: 17





	1. Prologue

“Well, I’m going to bed.”

“Hey! Come on, Tori! That was funny!”

“Hehe. I’m just teasing, dear. I’m still going to bed. It’s rather late.”

“Goodnight, honey. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Your plants will still be there in the morning, dear.”

“I need to wish them goodnight too. It won’t take very long, I promise.”

“Unless you find dead leaves to cut off?”

He hears his dad chuckle through the door before acquiescing, “Any dead leaves I find will still be there in the morning.”

Asriel keeps his eyes closed as his mom walks past their room, just in case she decides to check on the two of them. 

She doesn’t. They’d only “gone to sleep” about an hour beforehand anyway, and she hadn’t found it necessary to check as often once Chara had stopped waking up screaming. If he’d told her that they still often started awake, sweating ice, she might not have stopped, but he hadn’t, so she had. It wasn’t his place to share such things. Chara would talk about it when they were ready.

Once she’s passed and he’s heard the door to his parents’ room close, he quietly lifts his blanket, sliding his legs to the side onto the floor. He stands, then tiptoes to Chara’s bed in an attempt to be quiet. It’s not much of a change from how he typically walks, but it’s the thought that counts. He reaches out to nudge their back, before stopping himself. Instead, he whispers, as quietly as he can, “hey Chara, are you asleep, it’s-”

Before he’s even finished his sentence, his sibling turns and puts a finger to their lips. “Not so loud, they’ll hear you.”

A second, but not a sound, later they are also standing next to him, crouched slightly to spread their weight. They move to the door, listening for a few minutes until they hear Asgore walking down the hall. Asriel quietly moves up next to them, on the other side of the door. They pause and hold their breath as he stops just passed their door. Asriel locks eyes with them, but they don’t seem particularly unnerved by this. They know their dad is only saying his soft “Goodnight” to the plant in the hall between the two rooms.

Once he’s gone to bed and closed the door, Chara grabs the door handle and, after waiting a second. Slowly turns it and pulls the door open about two feet before stopping it. Asriel looks at them confused, but they simply point to the hinges before slipping out into the hall. Not wanting to be left behind, he follows.

In the hallway, he can hear the gentle murmurs of quiet conversation from his parents’ room, but it’s too muffled to really make out. Chara seems unconcerned, quietly slipping down the hallway as if they’ve done this a hundred times. Asriel goes to follow them, moving down the middle of the hall. He gets about five feet before...

CREEEEAAAK.

The floorboard, not actually that loud, feels deafening in the silence. He freezes. His heart pounds in his chest. Chara pauses, too, listening. But, when their parents continue talking, uninterrupted, they shoot him a look, before motioning sharply towards the wall. He moves, as quickly as he can while still remaining silent, to it and flattens himself against it. He moves along it to the end of the hall next to them. They roll their eyes and mouth “dork” at him.

He goes to move down the stairs towards the throne room, but they shake their head at him and motion towards the front door. He looks at them, confused. They mouth something at him, but he can’t make it out. “What?” he mouths back. They roll their eyes and move towards the front door, quietly stretching to look out the window on top before opening the door as quietly as they can and passing through. He pauses, looking towards the stares, before moving after them anyway. They close the door behind him and start heading down the path towards New Home proper. He puts a very fluffy hand on their shoulder and asks, “where are you going? The throne room is that way,” whispering as quietly as he can.

“I know, but there’s something I wanna get first. It’s not far, we have to get passed the guard though. Follow me.”

They start to head down the main path again, before slipping into a gap in the rocks. He follows, only to find them just crouched there. He slips in beside them. “What are you-”

They put a finger to their lips. A second later, he sees a guard walk past towards the castle. It’s too dark to tell who it is. Chara slips out behind them and heads down the path into New Home. Asriel follows.

“I thought the guards were honoro... honorora... honorar… I thought the guards were just for show.”

“They are, but dad usually sends Ezra out just to check on things when he goes to bed.”

“What do you mean usually? How do you know that?”

“4 or 5 times a week, and, I’m magic.”

“No, _ I’m _ magic. You’re blood. Still, I guess that explains why they’re extra tired some mornings.”

“You bugging them to play does not help. Dork.”

“Hey!”

They stick their tongue out at him. He giggles. There’s silence for a couple minutes with nothing but the pair of their footsteps and the gentle bustle of monsters in the houses around them preparing for bed.

“You still haven’t told me where we’re going.”

“I saw something at the dump the other day. I want to get it first.”

“All the way to Waterfall? That’s so far.”

“It’s not that far you nerd.”

“Hey, you’re the nerd!”

“Ok, dork.”

“And Hotland is too warm.”

“It’s not its fault you’re made of fluff.”

“It not MY fault I’m made of fluff either!”

“I thought you were made of magic?”

“It’s fluffy magic.”

“Ok, dork.”

“You already used that one nerd.”

“We’re just passing through Hotland. It won’t be long, I promise.”

“It better not be. The longer we’re out here, the less time we have for stargazing.”

“It’ll be worth it. Trust me.”

The two of them come to the elevator out of New Home. Chara pushes the button, then, when the door opens, they bow dramatically and gesture into the elevator. “After you, your highness.”

He giggles, before using his magic to make a crown on top of his head. He steps into the elevator just as dramatically. “Why, thank you, captain.”

“No! I’m the royal scientist!”

“Whatever nerd.” He goes to noogie them, but they grab his arm and playfully push him onto the ground. They T-pose. He grabs their arm and pulls them down on to the floor of the elevator. They pull his ear. “Ow!”

They stop immediately. “Oh no! Did I hurt you.” He blows a raspberry at them.

The two are still tussling and giggling when the elevator stops. Chara, who had managed to stand back up, loses their footing at the jolt and falls back on top of him. The door opens. “Oop, we’re here!” They walk out of the elevator. He’s upside down. He gets up and follows them. 

Chara stops in front of the old building. It’s as empty and abandoned as always. Asriel comes up behind them. “I thought you said we were going to Waterfall?”

“Huh? Oh. Yeah. It’s just this always makes me feel weird.”

“Hmm. I guess. It is weird they built a lab if nobody’s using it. There hasn’t been a royal scientist in… I don’t think there’s ever been a royal scientist, at least not underground.”

“Until me!”

“You’re not scientist yet, nerd.”

They stick their tongue out at him, then sigh. “It’s not that. This building always seems familiar, like I used to visit it a lot, like I’m missing something.” The word thing feels wrong in their mouth, like it’s the wrong one, like it should be a different one.

Asriel pauses, but, unable to think of what to say, he dabs. Chara dabs back by reflex, then shakes their head to clear it. “Whatever dork. It’s probably nothing.”

“Does this mean we can move on now? I’m burning over here.”

“Yeah yeah, come on.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t make you royal scientist when I’m king. Knowing you, you’d probably go around dangerous chemicals barefoot or prank the whole underground.”

“Shut up. I would not!”

“You totally would, nerd.”

As the two of them walk down the steps towards the underground river connecting much of the underground, Asriel is surprised to see the Riverperson there. “Don’t they ever sleep?”

Chara shrugs.

“And what if they tell mom and dad?”

“They won’t.”

Before Asriel can respond, the Riverperson sees the two of them walking up. “Tra la la. The angel is coming. Oh, the royal siblings, where can I take you two tonight?”

Chara hops onto the boat. “Waterfall, please.”

Asriel follows.

“Tre le le. If you think you’ve seen something before, it’s probably because you have.”

The boat quickly arrives at its destination, and a short walk later the two of them are in the dump.

“You still haven’t told me what you wanted to come here for.”

“A couple days ago, I saw a telescope wash up here.” They walk around a pile of trash.

“Why didn’t you get it then?”

”Didn’t think anything of it until you mentioned you wanted to do this.” He hears scraping sounds as they drag something out from the other side of the trash pile. “Thought it would be nice.” The pile wobbles.

“Woah, watch out!” The pile stops wobbling, but some junk falls off the top of it. A packet of papers from the top lands on Asriel’s head. “Ow!”

Chara pokes their head out from behind the trash pile. “You good?”

“Yeah, just got hit by something.” He leans down and picks up the packet. It’s a small set of sheet music. The front says, “The Stars are with the Voyager, text by Thomas Hood” “Oh! Vocal music. I’ve been meaning to learn some new stuff.”

Chara walks up, dragging a medium-sized telescope on a tripod. “Well, at least you got something.”

“Oh, you found it.”

“Yeah. Would you help me fold it up so I can carry it.”

Asriel dabs. Chara dabs and drops the telescope. The two then fold up the tripod and the extendable telescope, both of which Chara then tucks under their shoulder. The both of them then walk back to the riverside, Asriel reading the sheet music. One boat ride and a “Tri li li. Don’t forget, I’m with you in the dark.” later, the two are walking back to the elevator up from the base of Hotland to New Home.

“Hey, Azzy. Watch where you’re going, dork.”

“Oh? Yeah, sure, nerd.”

“You can read in the elevator.”

“It is a really long elevator.”

“I actually heard dad talking about it. Apparently, most monsters only use the Hotland floors. He and mom talked about splitting it into two elevators for logistics reasons.”

“Really? Huh. I must have missed that.”

“You were asleep. It was a few days ago. What’s the music?”

“It’s for four parts, so I can’t sing it.”

“You could try just doing one of the parts at a time.”

“Yeah! I can try that in the elevator.”

They gently whap him on the snoot. He sticks his tongue out in response. “With all the echo? Loud! Bad.” They admonished.

“Fine. I’ll find some other time to sing it then.”

“You’d better.”

As if on cue, the elevator arrives, and they go in.

“How long have we been out anyway?”

“Calm down, it’s only been about 40 minutes. You’ve got plenty of starlight left.”

“I was worried.”

“What would be the point of going all that way for the telescope if we couldn’t use it.”

“Shoulda known you’d plan this all out. Nerd.”

“I told you to trust me. After all, my plans are flawless.”

“Like when you tried to prank Ezra with a rubber band gun but forgot they were wearing armor.”

“Shut up. I didn’t forget anything… this… time… oh.”

“What did you forget.”

“How are we gonna get this down the stairs without waking anyone up.”

“Flawless, huh?”

“Shut up. I’m thinking.” The telescoping pieces are loose enough that they threaten to rattle. The two of them stand there thinking. The pieces rattle tauntingly at them. The elevator whirrs.

“We could just leave it outside.”

“After all the trouble you took dragging me out to get it?”

The elevator door opens. The two of them step out and start back towards the castle.

“We might not have any other option.”

“Why don’t you wrap it in one of our blankets to muffle it?”

“That’s not a bad idea… Ok. I’ll run ahead and sneak in and grab one.”

“See, I can be smart too!”

“Yep, it’s your turn to be nerd. Maybe you should be the Royal Scientist instead of me.”

“But then who’d be king?”

“Me, duh.” They stick their tongue out, then pause. “Well, not ‘King’ per se but-”

“Oh, please,” he rolls his eyes, “you’d probably… you’d... I don’t know what you’d do, but it wouldn’t be good.”

“Can’t think of a reason I wouldn’t be a better leader than you?”

He rolls his eyes. “Didn’t you say you’d run ahead.”

They hand him the telescope and bow dramatically. “But of course, my liege.” 

The rest of his walk is quiet and uneventful without them.

They meet him outside the castle’s front door, holding the blanket from his bed. “Here, let me wrap it.” They say, lowering their voice due to the proximity to the house.

“Why’d we have to use my blanket?” He says, handing them the telescope.

“It was your idea, and besides, you’d already mussed it up, so it was easier to grab.”

“You just didn’t want yours getting dirty.”

“You have fur! You’ll be fine.” They finish wrapping the telescope into a tight bundle, then grabbed it firmly with both arms to keep it as still as possible. “Let’s go.”

One short sneak through the door and down the stairs later, the two were walking down the long hall between the castle and the throne room. The stone flooring meant that, as long as he walks softly, Asriel doesn’t have to worry about making extra noise. He’d never realized how creaky the wood floor in the main residential areas of the castle was until he’d tried sneaking in it. Chara is Chara. They hardly seem to notice the difference, walking like a ghost as they always did. 

The light through the stained glass is more silver than normal, but he can’t get a good look outside because of how the coloration of the glass warps the light. Still, the glimpse tantalizes him, echoing the photos of the moon and stars he’d seen and the crystals on the cavernous ceiling in Waterfall that Chara had said resembled them. He finds it hard to control his steps as he started involuntarily bouncing on his toes. 

Before long, he finds himself standing at the door to the throne room with Chara next to him. They turn to him. “Ready?”

“Not really, but I can’t wait, either.”

“Well, you’re the one who’s gonna have to open the door.” They nod towards the telescope they’re carrying.

“Oh! Right, yeah.” He reaches forward to grab the door, then pauses. “Wait, how do I open this door quietly?”

“The stone here’s thick, and the hallway’s long. Trust me, they won’t hear it. Once we’re inside, you could scream, and they won’t hear you.”

“How… do you know that?”

“=)”

“Don’t you… I don’t know how to make that noise... but don’t you _ that _ at me! How do you know that!?”

“Sometimes I come down here to scream. It’s cathartic.”

“How often is sometimes.”

“Just open the door! The more time you spend talking, the less time you get to see.”

“Fine”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the whole lab thing is a gaster reference. Specifically, it's a reference to [Undertale-in-2k19's lab assistant AU.](https://undertale-in-2k19.tumblr.com/tagged/lab-assistant-au) (Although I think this story fits well in the actual chronology of that, so it's just a reference.) (Also, if you're reading this, hi Reese!)


	2. The Sun Will Never Fail

Asriel opened the door to the throne room, following Chara in and closing the door behind the both of them.

And then he turned around.

And then he looked up.

And the song he’d read goes through his mind.

_The stars are with the voyager, __  
_ _Wherever he may sail_

The first thing he noticed was that he could. Normally the gaps in the throne room ceiling were filled with a light bright and harsh enough that it burned his eyes, but this light was a gentle silver. He could gaze up into the moonlight forever and it wouldn’t hurt him for it.

_The moon is constant to her time, __  
_ _The sun will never fail_

The moon itself was beautiful. All the pictures he’d seen of it just made it look like a circle, sometimes with darker spots, sometimes just a flat silver. This moon was slightly more than half a circle. It was covered with craters and bumps, little details only the eye could capture. It glowed reassuringly.

_But follow, follow, follow, follow, round the world, __  
_ _The green earth, the earth, and the sea_

That’s to say nothing about the stars. Someone else would say they were like gems in the black ceiling of the sky, but he wouldn’t. He’d spent his entire life up to this point with “stars” that were actually just gems in the black ceiling, and he knew they paled in comparison. These were… indescribable. They were also silver, reminiscent of the silver of the moon, but brighter. The longer he stared the more that he could see they were all slightly different. That one was slightly bluer, that one more orange, that one larger, that one smaller.

_So love is with the lover's heart, love is with the lover’s heart__  
_ _Wherever he may be. May be._

They were the silver souls of monsters, every one slightly different, yet alike nonetheless. They were a billion wishes, a billion promises made and as yet unfulfilled. They were all his hopes and dreams, and so much more. They were indescribable in their enormity.

_Wherever he may be, the stars __  
_ _Must daily lose their light_

Ten feet and a thousand miles away, Chara finishes setting up the telescope. They turn to their brother. He’s standing there, staring up, lost in the sky. They sit down and mutter to themself. “What a dork.” 

_The moon will veil her in the shade__  
_ _The sun will set at night._

Now they have to wait for him to come back. Still, they’re glad he’s happy. Glad he gets to see this. Glad they get to see him get to see this. 

_The sun may set, but constant love__  
_ _Will shine when he's away_

Silently, they make a promise of their own. Someday, this will not be kept from him. Someday, he will see this every night. Someday it will be as mundane to him as it is to them. It joins the billions of promises above them.

_So that dull night is never night,__  
_ _And day is brighter day._

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Here's a link to a performance of the song referenced here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUJNJWGY-Ho) There's also a two-part version for soprano alto choir by Emily Crocker, but when I was writing this I was thinking of the Eleanor Daley arrangement in the linked video.


	3. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wrapping up stuff that I set up in the prologue that didn't get addressed in the main body. Asgore is cool dad™️

“Okay dork, come back to earth.”

Asriel shakes his head, clearing his thoughts. “Sorry. What’s up?”

“The telescope? It’s kind of a waste of time to walk that far if you’re not gonna use it.”

He walks towards it then stops. “Do you want to look through it first? You went through all the work to get it and set it up.”

They roll their eyes, then gesture dramatically towards the telescope. “You first your highness.”

He laughs.

“If I wanted to look through it I had plenty of time to do so while you were zoned out.”

He looks through the telescope. He sees stars again but bigger this time. They’re still really cool, but he tries not to get distracted again. He gently pulls the eyepiece, tracking his view to the side.

“Stop! You’ll break it!”

“What?”

“The tripod. It’s tightened into place. You have to twist that lever to loosen it, then you can use that to move your view.”

“Of course you’d know how to do that, you nerd.”

“I literally just read the instructions dork.”

“Hi I’m Azzy I’m 9 and I never learned how to read.”

“Shut up.”

He grabs the lever at the top of the tripod below the telescope and tracks over to the moon. He looks up from the telescope and glances around. “Do you have paper?”

“The drawing pad you left in here yesterday is still over by mom’s throne.”

“Thanks.” He walks over and looks around the floor. He sees the drawing pad lying next to a flower bed of blue flowers. He picks it up and, removing the pencil from the spiral binding, returns back to the telescope. He slowly tracks its view across the moon’s surface, moving to and away from the telescope, carefully drawing each crater and hill he can see on the page.

As he does so, Chara wanders off. They start examining the flower beds. He doesn’t notice. They mumble something, but he doesn’t pay any attention. They move to another flower bed. He keeps drawing. They stand up from the flower bed. He finishes drawing the moon and turns the page, starting to make a starmap. Of course, he doesn’t exactly know what a starmap actually looks like, but he’s seen diagrams of the crystals that make the “stars” in Waterfall, and assumes it looks roughly like that, so that’s what he starts drawing. Chara walks over and stands next to him. He’s about halfway through the first clump of stars. 

They scream. Loud. Startled, he jerks away, drawing a sharp dark long line across the paper.

“Aaaagh! What was that for?”

“Some of the orchids have dead branches. I need to cut them off or they’ll rot.”

“But those are over there and you screamed over here.”

“I haven’t screamed in a while.”

“And you had to scream right now? I was in the middle of drawing.”

“Would you have preferred I screamed while you were in the middle of your previous drawing?”

“You jerk! You were trying to mess me up!”

“What are you gonna do about it?”

In response, he leans down and scoops up a handful of dirt, as quickly as he can while still avoiding his dad’s flowers. He throws the dirt at them.

“Hey!” They throw some dirt at him in response. “That’s it. Where are the knives?”

“We just threw dirt at each other and you think I’m gonna tell you where to find weapons?”

“Yeah, that’s not my preferred form of mudslinging. Dork.”

He groans at their pun.

“But I actually do need a knife to cut the dead branches of the orchids.”

“I thought that was just an excuse to scream not an actual thing.”

“Can’t it be both?”

He sighs. “Check the tool rack in the basement. There’s probably some there.”

As they leave to go do as he’d suggested, he turns the page to start drawing again. He has to start his drawing over again, as that’s preferable to wasting his eraser on the slash. He goes to look through the telescope again. It has dirt on it. He looks around for a minute, then grabs the bottom of his sweater and uses it to try and wipe the dirt off.

His second attempt at drawing is slower than the first, since the telescope lens is still somewhat smudged. As he does so, Chara returns, carrying a knife. They go from flower bed to flower bed, cutting off dead branches and leaves, pulling out the occasional weed that had been missed previously, and performing various other gardening tasks. He finishes his starmap, then turns the page and starts to draw it again, but more accurately the second time. Chara finishes gardening. They pick up the dead branches and clean them off, trimming leaves, sprigs, and forks from them with the knife, leaving a set of about 5 inch long stems with flowers on them. He keeps turns back to his first starmap and starts connecting the stars with lines, forming his own constellations. They walk over and stick the flowers into the spiral binding of his notebook, then look over at his constellations. “Oh, that one's almost exactly one of the human constellations. Canes Venatici I think.”

“Just that one? They’re the same stars.”

“Yeah but you connect them differently.”

“Sounds about right.”

Before they can respond, the door to the throne room opens, and a large dad yawn echos through the room.

“Uh-oh”

“What are you two doing up so early?”

“It was Chara’s idea!”

“WHaT? No, it wasn’t! You wanted to see the stars!”

“Shhh!”

“Where did you two get… is... that... a telescope?”

“That was DEFINITELY Chara’s idea.”

“For you! Traitor.”

“Nerd”

“Dork”

“How long have you two been up?

“Wait, Asgore, you’re not normally up this earlier either.”

“I saw some dead stems when I said goodnight to the flowers last night, so when I woke up early, I decided to go take care of them. Wait… how do you know I’m not up this early?”

“Uh…”

Their father shakes his head swiftly, “You’re changing the subject. How much sleep did you two get?”

Asriel and Chara look at each other quickly, neither saying anything.

Their father sighs.

“Ok. I’ll make you two a deal. I won’t tell your mother, if you go to bed and sleep right now.”

Chara’s defeated “Ok, Asgore” is simultaneous with Asriel’s “But dad, I just wanted to see the stars!”

“It is 3 in the morning. If you don’t go to sleep now, you won’t be rested in the morning.”

“Aw…”

“Come on Azzy, let's go.”

Asgore puts his hand on both of their shoulders. Chara flinches away. Asgore takes his hand off their shoulder but still holds it behind them. He then starts to guide them back towards the hall. “Come on, you can show me what you’ve drawn in the morning.”

“I drew a starmap!”

“I took care of your flowers for you.”

Asgore stopped a moment and blinked. “Oh, thank you, Chara! That was thoughtful of you. Still, we can discuss that further in the morning.”

As Asriel was guided up the stairs and towards his bed, and as the excitement of seeing the stars faded, he started to realize the tiredness he’d been ignoring in his excitement. By the time he reached his bed, he felt as tired as death. “‘Night dad, ‘Night Chara” he mumbled.

“Goodnight, dork” Chara whispered as the waved to Asgore, who waved back as he quietly left the room.

The next thing Asriel knew, it was the morning, he could smell his mom making breakfast, and Chara was already up next to him, ready to start the day.


End file.
